Chapter 3409: Farewell of Qing Xiao

Three oval-shaped fruits had natural, lightning-like patterns on their surface.

"Lightning Fruit!"

Four Seasons Sword Sage's expression showed excitement; with this fruit, he could attempt to reach the Mahayana stage.

"Fellow Daoist Li, how about you take two Lightning Fruits and I take one?"

Wang Qingxiao's tone was gentle.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, you are too kind. I only need one Lightning Fruit. Our Grand Unity Palace has been fighting the Thunder Tiger clan for many years, and we've attacked their lair many times. This is the first time we've successfully entered the Thunder Tiger Mountain Range; without you, it would have been impossible."

Four Seasons Sword Sage said sincerely.

Wang Qingxiao was at the Mid-Integration stage and possessed considerable divine abilities. Even without Four Seasons Sword Sage, he could have killed Lei Hao, though it wouldn't have been as easy.

Wang Qingxiao repeatedly declined, but Four Seasons Sword Sage insisted. Seeing this, Wang Qingxiao stopped protesting and accepted the two Lightning Fruits.

The treasury did not contain the Heavenly Void Jade Book. The most valuable items were five Thunder Marrow Grass plants over 50,000 years old, thousands of Dharma Idol materials, two Heavenly Soul Divine Crystals, and one Nine-Revolving Exquisite Stone.

They divided the items in the treasury. The Heavenly Soul Divine Crystals and Nine-Revolving Exquisite Stone went to Wang Qingxiao, to be given to Wang Changsheng for artifact refinement if he could return to the Xuanyang Realm.

In addition, he also requested a map that detailed the conditions of the Black Tortoise Continent, Azure Dragon Continent, and White Tiger Continent.

As they exited the treasury, hundreds of Grand Unity Palace disciples had already arrived.

"Master, we have cleared out most of the enemies, but Lei Hong and Lei Kun managed to escape."

A handsome young man in a golden robe said respectfully. This was Su Ming, an Early-Integration stage disciple of Four Seasons Sword Sage.

"Fellow Daoist Li, all good things must come to an end. I need to go find my Seventh Brother, so let's part ways here."

Wang Qingxiao bade farewell to Four Seasons Sword Sage. He had been gathering intelligence about the Sky Demon Realm for years. His cooperation with Four Seasons Sword Sage against the Thunder Tiger clan this time was also to obtain maps. Now that he had the maps of the Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger Continents, he could finally set off to find Wang Qingshan.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, was there any impropriety in the distribution just now?"

Four Seasons Sword Sage asked with a frown.

"No," Wang Qingxiao said, shaking his head. "I need to find a way to search for my Seventh Brother and also find a way to return to the Xuanyang Realm." Grand Unity Palace's strength was limited, its influence on the Black Tortoise Continent was not significant, and the intelligence they gathered was also limited. It would take an unacceptably long time for their disciples to gather any news about Wang Qingshan. He planned to personally search for Wang Qingshan, and while doing so, travel around to experience the local customs and traditions of various regions in the Sky Demon Realm.

"Alright! This is a small token of my appreciation, please accept it. You can try your luck on the Azure Dragon Continent; that's the domain of the Flood Dragon clan."

Four Seasons Sword Sage took out a golden storage ring and handed it to Wang Qingxiao. The Azure Dragon Continent is home to multiple races, with the Flood Dragon clan being the dominant one. The ancestors of the Flood Dragon clan possessed Azure Dragon bloodline, which is why the entire continent is named the Azure Dragon Continent. There is more than one demon-dominated realm, and the Sky Demon Realm is just one of them. The demons in the Sky Demon Realm at most possess true spirit bloodlines, which is already very formidable.

Wang Qingxiao thanked him, then transformed into a streak of white light, shooting through the air and disappearing into the horizon.

"Quickly clean up the battlefield, leave some people to guard, and the rest will follow me to eradicate the remnants of the Thunder Tiger clan."

Four Seasons Sword Sage ordered.

"Yes, Master," Su Ming and the others replied. They agreed wholeheartedly and departed to carry out the orders.

***

Xuanyang Realm, Xuanling Continent.

Azure Lotus Island, a secret chamber.

Wang Changsheng sat cross-legged on a green meditation cushion, his gaze fixed on the Azure Lotus Creation Cauldron nearby. His expression was solemn, and many artifact refinement materials were placed around him.

A snow-blue flame burned at the bottom of the Azure Lotus Creation Cauldron, and some white ice chips appeared on the ground nearby.

After a while, Wang Changsheng changed his incantation gesture, flicked his sleeve, and the snow-blue flame flashed and vanished.

He stood up, walked to the side of the Azure Lotus Creation Cauldron, and opened the lid. A staff, glowing with Buddhist light, flew out, floating in mid-air and emitting terrifying spiritual energy fluctuations.

"It's finally done."

Wang Changsheng's face showed joy. He had spent over a hundred years to refine this Upper-tier Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure, and that was despite possessing a seventh-order spiritual flame; otherwise, it would have taken even longer. Refining higher-level treasures would take even more time, but having a high-tier spiritual flame could save a considerable amount of it.

Wang Changsheng put away the staff and walked out.

Wang Ruyan and Master Miaode were sitting in the stone pavilion, engaged in conversation.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, did you succeed?"

Master Miaode saw Wang Changsheng and asked with an eager expression.

Wang Changsheng smiled and nodded, then flicked his right hand. A gleaming golden staff flew out and landed in front of Master Miaode. The golden staff had the small characters "Golden Tin" engraved on it, and spiritual light flickered continuously.

"Golden Tin Staff!"

Master Miaode grasped the Golden Tin Staff with both hands, waved it a few times, his face filled with joy.

"Thank you very much, Fellow Daoist Wang."

Master Miaode said gratefully. It wasn't easy to obtain an Upper-tier Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure, and the Mahayana cultivators he knew were few and far between. After much thought, he could only turn to Wang Changsheng for help.

"Master Miaode, you're too polite," Wang Changsheng said with a smile. "It was just a small favor. Over the years, I've troubled you by having you instruct my wife."

"Indeed!" Wang Ruyan chimed in. "If it weren't for Senior's guidance, I wouldn't know how long it would have taken me to refine a seventh-order formation talisman."

Master Miaode had taught Wang Ruyan very diligently, and her progress was rapid; she could already refine several types of seventh-order formation talismans.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, this is a small token of my appreciation, and also payment for your artifact refinement."

Master Miaode took out a golden storage ring and handed it to Wang Changsheng.

"Master Miaode, you're too polite," Wang Changsheng said sincerely. "We agreed that I would help you with artifact refinement, and you would instruct my wife in talisman crafting. I, Wang, cannot accept any more payment. How about this: if, in the future, Master can refine an eighth-order talisman, I will provide the materials and ask you to refine an eighth-order talisman for me?"

Master Miaode pondered for a moment and then agreed.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, I, the humble monk, still have matters to attend to, so I won't stay any longer. If you have time in the future, please visit the Sun-Blazed Sand Sea."

Master Miaode bade farewell to Wang Changsheng and left with Monk Yuanxiao.

"Husband," Wang Ruyan said, "Bai Ling'er's soul clone descended to the lower realms to contact our clan members in the Liyang Realm. Qingshan is in the Sky Demon Realm, and Qingxiao is probably there as well."

"The Sky Demon Realm? How did they end up there?" Wang Changsheng asked, puzzled.

"They unexpectedly encountered an eighth-order Azure Thunder Tortoise and fled with an Integration stage female cultivator," Wang Ruyan explained. "This woman possessed a realm-breaking treasure and used it to escape across realms with them."

Possessing a realm-breaking treasure offers many benefits; when encountering a powerful enemy, one can escape across realms, which is far more effective than an Upper-tier Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure used for flight.

Wang Changsheng suddenly understood and said, "Once you advance to the Mahayana stage, I will find a way to go to the Sky Demon Realm and bring Qingshan and the others back."

Wang Ruyan was already at the perfected Integration stage, having studied talisman crafting with Master Miaode for over a hundred years. She could now consider secluding herself to attempt to break through to the Mahayana stage.

Wang Ruyan nodded. Only when she advanced to the Mahayana stage could Wang Changsheng safely leave the Xuanling Continent, as Azure Lotus Island needed a Mahayana cultivator to guard it.